New Zoo's, need help!

[jag3534]

Last Monday I bought two zoo frags at the lfs, and one (red hornet morph)wasn't opening at the time, due to being fragged, and the other (green/blue) was open and happy.
The hornet that wasn't opened started growing what looks like white sponge material on the whole frag. I can blow it off, but it comes back within hours. They still have not opened, and now the tops of the polyps look like they are turning a green/red algae color. What is this stuff, is my frag dead? Should I remove it now?
The Green/blue guy is still 2/3 opening, but it is starting to look like it is shedding a layer of white skin of the polyps. I can blow the skin off in big chinks that float around. Any ideas??
I don't have pics, our camera refuses to focus in the tank. The rest of our zoos seem to be doing fine, even got some new frags from luisse, which seem to be doing fairly well also.
Thanks for any input!!

 

[Workaholic]

Those two frags are growing a fungus. I would isolate those two frags to a specific area of the tank. Honestly, I've tried to do a very concentrated dip of iodine and of melafix to no avail with this. Hopefully somone else has some info on it but I found that cleaning them off with a toothbrush does help but it will come back quickly so you have to keep on it. Wish I had more info.

Tom

 

[badger126]

The Furan dip for zoas is meant for fungus isn't it?

 

[badger126]

FURAN-2
*Caution* using FURAN-2 as a zoa dip is different than using it for treating fish, the water to med ratio for a zoa dip is much different than what is given on the box.

Preparation: Prepare a container of water by dissolving one packet of FURAN-2 in one cup of freshly made saltwater (mix well). Raise the temperature of the water till it matches that of your tank. The water will be a greenish/yellow color.

Dipping: Place the polyps in the dip for as little as 5 minutes, but no more than 20. FURAN-2 works better at higher temperatures, so if you have the means slowly increase the temperature to 84° during the dipping process. If you can’t raise the temperature, be sure and maintain it at tank temperature. Remove the polyps and rinse in a container of tank water before placing back into your tank. Polyps may retain a yellow/greenish coloration, but that is normal and will go away in a day or two.

Polyps should be dipped once a day for three consecutive days. After completion of the dipping process allow a 5 to 7 day resting period before dipping again, if symptom persist. If you notice any adverse affects as a result of the treatment, stop treatment immediately.

Effectiveness: FURAN-2 is effective in combating both Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial infections, as well as fungus. It is also the primary recommended method of treatment for zoa pox.


from http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f14/dipping-zoanthairans-40552.html

 

[jag3534]

Fungus huh? Thanks for the info!!! I appreciate the help, there's always something new with these tanks.....
I will have to go get some furan 2 in the morning. Is the fungus something in my tank, or was it more likely to have come in on the frags? Ughh, I really hope this doesn't spread!!

 

[jrgilles]

So with the bifuran, why do they say 'freshly made salt water'?

I've been using water from my tank. So much easier than making a fresh tiny batch for the dip.... Is there a reason I'm missing? Maybe bacteria in the tank water react with the furan?

 

[jag3534]

I'm afraid it's spreading, my armor of gods aren't opening today, and they have a redish algaae looking skin on top of the closed polyps. Can i stck the infected zoas in a little 10gal by them selves with just a powerhead for a few days while i see if the treatment works? Do they need light if they aren't really opening? this sucks.

 

[badger126]

Ya if it's only affecting zoas I'd isolate all of your zoas somehow and treat them. Don't fret too much yet- zoas are amazingly hardy. My parents had a single polyp palythoa that got buried and was then closed up for over 2 weeks and it pulled through. Good luck with the treatment, keep us updated.

 

[saltwaterfishes]

If it's fungus, I would cut off all the infected polyps and save the good ones, dip it too. It spreads really fast. Hope you can save a couple polyps....it'll grow back in now time!

 

[jag3534]

Thanks for the input everybody. I tried doing a dip of seachem coral disinfectant. I put the hornet zoa in there, and squirted it with the water a bit. The force of the water was enough to pop most of the polyps off. Not a good sign I'm thinking. SO, I dumped the frag. I think it's a goner and don't want to lose the whole tank over one frag.
The other frag seems to be holding it's own. It is sloughing off the skin, and seems healthy underneath. So I decided not to dip it and stress it more, I'll see if it can heal itself. After some reading on wetwebmedia, I also turned on the k3 thats on the front glass, to add some more flow, I'm hoping that wll help the shedding, and keep any junk from landing on the others.
In related news, We have a frag of mean greens for a while that haven't been happy for a month or two. They seemed to be getting the algae growing on them, so with all this liquid debridig I've been doing to everyone on the tank, I've been able to scrape and blow what seems like a shell off of it, and it opened today!! Hooray!

 

[FishOnTheBrainC]

Has anyone tried a h2o3 dip for fungus yet? Maybe try that.

 

[Scott-CapeCoral]

Furan 2 treatment if it's fungus, or melting. It has done wonders for me with colonies that decide to get pox, fungus, and melt, because of shipping stress.